ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the successful implementation, internalization and sustainability of education reforms supported by international development assistance are highly conditioned by the social, cultural and political contexts. It reviews the provision of development assistance to Egypt during the past two decades, its political motives, and how conspiracy theories originate and spread in the context of educational policies. The chapter examines how conspiracy theories played out in the case of the Center of Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the 1990s. It discusses comprehensive research exploring the impact of international development assistance on education policy making in Egypt, Transforming Education in Egypt: Western Influence and Domestic Policy Reform. Since the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, Egypt has been second only to Israel in receiving development assistance from the United States in addition to receiving international development assistance from other Western/ industrialized countries.
